#i need do a buck + power tools set

[whosoldherout]

chainsaw buck my beloved

[ketchuppee]

During the 2008 recession, my aunt lost her job. Her, her partner, and my three cousins moved across the country to stay with us while they got back on their feet. My house turned from a family of four to a family of nine overnight, complete with three dogs and five cats between us.

It took a few years for them to get a place of their own, but after a few rentals and apartments, they now own a split level ranch in a town nearby. I’ve lost track of how many coworkers and friends have stayed with them when they were in a tight spot. A mother and son getting out of an abusive relationship, a divorcee trying to stay local for his kids while they work out a custody agreement, you name it. My aunt and uncle knew first hand what that kindness meant, and always find space for someone who needed it, the way my parents had for them.

That same aunt and uncle visited me in [redacted] city last year. They are prolific drinkers, so we spent most of the day bar hopping. As we wandered the city, any time we passed a homeless person, my uncle would pull out a fresh cigarette and ask them if they had a light. Regardless of if they had a lighter on hand or not, he offered them a few bucks in exchange, which he explained to me after was because he felt it would be easier for them to accept in exchange for a service, no matter how small.

I work for a company that produces a lot of fabric waste. Every few weeks, I bring two big black trash bags full of discarded material over to a woman who works down the hall. She distributes them to local churches, quilting clubs, and teachers who can use them for crafts. She’s currently in the process of working with our building to set up a recycling program for the smaller pieces of fabric that are harder to find use for.

One of my best friends gives monthly donations to four or five local organizations. She’s fortunate enough to have a tech job that gives her a good salary, and she knows that a recurring donation is more valuable to a non-profit because they can rely on that money month after month, and can plan ways to stretch that dollar for maximum impact. One of those organizations is a native plant trust, and once she’s out of her apartment complex and in a home with a yard, she has plans to convert it into a haven of local flora.

My partner works for a company that is working to help regulate crypto and hold the current bad actors in the space accountable for their actions. We unfortunately live in a time where technology develops far too fast for bureaucracy to keep up with, but just because people use a technology for ill gain doesn’t mean the technology itself is bad. The blockchain is something that she finds fascinating and powerful, and she is using her degree and her expertise to turn it into a tool for good.

I knew someone who always had a bag of treats in their purse, on the odd chance they came across a stray cat or dog, they had something to offer them.

I follow artists who post about every local election they know of, because they know their platform gives them more reach than the average person, and that they can leverage that platform to encourage people to vote in elections that get less attention, but in many ways have more impact on the direction our country is going to go.

All of this to say, there’s more than one way to do good in the world. Social media leads us to believe that the loudest, the most vocal, the most prolific poster is the most virtuous, but they are only a piece of the puzzle. (And if virtue for virtues sake is your end goal, you’ve already lost, but that’s a different post). Community is built of people leveraging their privileges to help those without them. We need people doing all of those things and more, because no individual can or should do all of it. You would be stretched too thin, your efforts valiant, but less effective in your ambition.

None of this is to encourage inaction. Identify your unique strengths, skills, and privileges, and put them to use. Determine what causes are important to you, and commit to doing what you can to help them. Collective action is how change is made, but don’t forget that we need diversity in actions taken.

[theoddest1]

Regarding Alastor's backstory and how he rose to power in Hell... it just kind of feels out of character to me.

Because he's more like someone who puts in the work for what he wants, because it would feel more rewarding than just asking for it on a silver platter.

Now, I can understand him making the deal if it was around the time he first arrived in Hell and tried to rise up, only to get curb stomped by demons stronger than him and did worse things. And he makes the deal to feel in control again like when he was alive, that I can understand.

But the leak just... completely destroys Alastor's character AND his role in the story.

If I were to write his character, I'd make it where he never really asked for such things because the thought of asking anyone for help was absurd and breaks his already set idea of himself. [outside of the spirits, he asks for help and protection though he sees then more as tools than gods.]

To him, being a Fawn was completely out of the question. No longer will he be under someone else's egregious, yet sloppy, thumb. He pulls the reigns, and so he shall always do so. This also plays a huge part in how I believed he performed his radio host persona when alive.

"Amongst the people, I am the announcer, the charismatic showman, the one who provides the latest news and tales to tell. I have made the stage and set the standards so no man, woman, or child could ever hate or doubt me in a world made against people who look like me. So how, then, would I be touched? I am no ordinary man, I am their star in their night sky, and they don't even see me! Hah! All they see is tale after tale, horrors that they had no rhyme or reason to believe could bleed into their realities. Yet, without a single thought, the one who marks each harrowing inclination that rattles within is the one who made sure each drop of blood stained their perfect white cloth. Oh, how I LIVE for the spectacle, and they live for me."

This is how I viewed him. Meglomaniac, who is assured in his strength, who doesn't think he needs to make deals, or feel threatened when another powerful foe comes to face him regardless if he were dead or alive during this encounter [He is too assured of his self worth to care about what another strong enemy thinks of him]. He is all about being "alive" in the moment and in control. He does what he wants and sees no hope in his well-being, and with that, he manages to at least gain wisdom in being honest with himself. He knows he's a shithead and understands that what he has done was with no remorse or care because he gave up on being a kind soul long....loooong ago. Someone made sure to seal that fate for him. Why should he care what people think when he already has a stubborn viewpoint of himself? It is what it is.

EDIT: I forgot to add that I also made this one of major reasons for why in Hell he is made into a buck/deer. It is a reminder of what he hates most: an animal known stereotyped as docile, a perception he once wore before he turned to a life of crime. This form is a mockery of his ideals and his self-image.

But nah, the show instead has him as a piss baby spouting modern terms like a braindead Twitter user losing an argument over subjective material. He feels far more insecure and irritable, making whatever rule he set up about his smile feel more like cope rather than a well-rounded point. He smiles, yet his irritation and need to prove himself lessens its impact. He laughs, yet will turn around and cuss at someone all cause they think his name for the Hotel is trash rather than making a confident witty comeback. He asserts "dominance" but the way he does this is by using pure force alone and barely any mi d games, making it feel as though he isn't truly as clever or well thought out as he had hoped. Everything we have seen of him in the show destroys what little he had in the promotion of the pilot AND the pilot. He was more witty and charming back when Ed was still his VA on Hunicast. A true waste of a potentially well-made character.

[hellenhighwater]

I've had a couple people in the notes wondering about build costs and process for the aviary/catio section. It's made of treated lumber, which is not cheap in an already not-cheap lumber market; the addition cost me about $150 in wood. I could have built it a little cheaper, but I made some stylistic choices that cost me some extra board footage.

It's painted with black exterior paint (already had it from painting my house) and uses a coated wire 2x3" fencing, with a salvaged door. I spent a couple bucks on hinges and latches, and a few more on decking screws and washers (to help tack down the fencing). Smaller fencing is advisable if you have predators or aggressive strays in the area. I'm in an urban enough location that I'm not really worried about it.

If you're building a catio, the shape I chose is not the most efficient. It mirrors the shape of the aviary, which has an eight-foot internal peak, and is six feet wide. Standard board lengths come in 8 feet, so it's more efficient to design in increments of 2, 4, or 8, and choosing to do an angled roofline adds height that doesn't really do anything for Malice. She doesn't want to go up there and I'd hate to have to pull her down from that high when it's time to go indoors. It's also helpful to figure out what width of fencing you're going to be using, and design around that dimension--you'll save a loooot of snipping that way.

The salvaged door is something I would recommend though! It's nice to be able to enter easily, and old doors with broken glass are very easy to find; I just built the door frame about an inch bigger than the door dimensions, broke out all the broken glass, painted it, and attached fencing where the door used to be. I don't bother with the door latch, I just use a hook and eye set.

Theoretically you can build this whole thing using hand tools, but power tools make it much faster and easier. If you can find a drill, circular saw (or, ideally, a compound miter saw, aka my favorite), tin snips, and staple gun, you can build this in an afternoon. Painting it will take a little longer, and it's easier to paint it before the fencing is attached. It's also something that can be built with only one set of hands, because the whole thing is relatively lightweight, since it has no solid walls. And catios in general are a pretty good beginner project, because they don't need to be significantly weight-bearing.

[seat-safety-switch]

Imagine how boring civilization was before we invented the angle grinder. Whenever someone wanted to separate metal in a hurry, they’d have to work at it all day. Maybe take a break to have a lunch beer in between. Doesn’t do much for the economy. Now, with the angle grinder, they can rip through a ton of material in just the morning alone.

All kinds of art and commerce has occurred from this glorious invention: chopped-up tinwork, rapidly-removed quarter panels at the junkyard, that one sculpture on the other end of town that looks like the leftovers from an apartment fire. And it’s all thanks to a little motor, that makes a little wheel full of abrasive materials spin at a rate fast enough to terrify our un-evolved ancestors. They never could have comprehended the power that we now wield for just sixty bucks at Princess Auto, sixty-seven bucks if you want the one that doesn’t chuck white-hot ball bearings out of the plastic motor housing whenever you rev it a little too hard.

Things have only improved with the discovery of the battery-powered angle grinder. They’re portable and powerful, and easily concealable in a backpack or particularly goofy-looking overcoats. Now, you can take this wonder tool anywhere and use it on things like bicycle locks, catalytic converter flanges, and particularly pesky door hinges on Little League storage sheds. Never before has scumbag efficiency received such a boost.

What will the future hold for us? Maybe portable angle grinders that never need recharging. Perhaps bigger angle grinders. Ones that run in outer space. I know for a fact that I’m not going to be the one who discovers them, but I’ll be first in line to pick them up twenty years after release when they’re cheap enough to be on sale at Princess Auto and made mostly of inexpensive thermo-set plastic in a non-trademark-infringing colour.

[allsketchesnononsense]

I SAW YOUR POST ABOUT THE PSYCHOPOMP HELMET AND I HAVE TO ASK HOW’D YOU MAKE IT??

i wanted to cosplay her at some point in the future but i’ve never tried my hand at prop making or anything of that matter really so i can’t wrap my head around any like basic concepts to make the psychopomp itself 😭😭

sorry for taking abit to answer, wanted to make sure I was at my PC to answer so I can give Exact Images n stuff of what I got/used

warning: you're gonna need some serious power tools for this. alotta bits I had to get help from my dad bc he has SO MANY hobbies that involve power tools lol

SO

For the base:

you need a good helmet. n finding one of those ain't easy, so you're probs gonna haveta Make Do with something you can cut parts off of.

I used something like this, but cut off the parts that jut out at the ears and the lip at the front. The internal bit that keeps your Actual Head from touching the Actual Helmet is VERY helpful bc (atleast w/ mine) it wasnt a layer of foam or anything that'd be finnicky, it was just straps.

theoretically could also use a cheap-y baseball helmet though obvi you still gotta Mutilate it

For the accessories™:

The antannae are actual extendable radio antannae I harvested from an old boombox n another thing, but you can buy JUST the antannae online

the megaphone/satellite dish bit my dad helped me cut n gut a car alarm type thing and attatch it w/ this silicone stuff he had on hand

And the headphone pieces on the sides are a set of vintage radio headphones I found at a thrift store. these to be exact (they're not v rare n go for 10-30 bucks on ebay)

Though any old, chunky headphones could easily work. These were just what I had on hand. And, as a useful thing, the metal prongs connecting to the headband were perfect to easily bolt in place on the helmet and keep them flexible for easy putting on and taking off. The little radio speaker-y bits on the outside I added my dad had laying around though obvi not 1000% Necessary

And that's all really for the easily bought supplies

The front plate is Literally just a chunk of sheet metal he happened to have on hand, and added the bolts to. The fifth bolt in the middle is the only Functional one that actually attatches to the helmet

And the bit keeping the wires in place is a piece of plastic we melted to shape, painted accordingly, then hot glued in place. Added the screws to make it look abit more Cohesive with the rest of it.

The staples specifically on mine are holes drilled then w/ v thin wire fed through and twisted and trimmed.

Some smaller seams n details I added with super glue since it gave a v subtle raised effect, and bc it cracked in shipping I had to super glue some of the cracks back together Anyways lmao

also had to do alot of spraypainting to get it the right color. Make sure to paint the "accessories" seperate before assembly bc trying to tape off everything could end up Annoying and that way the metal bolts and the plate can retain their orig metal color to add contrast.

Also make sure you get Matte paint, bc it'll look goofy shiny. Preferably something meant for outdoor use bc those will have the more gritty textures you're looking for n its easy to find.

For any extra scuffing n details I did some dry brushing w/ grey and black acrylic to add depth. Best way to do it imo is add some drybrush with a scrappy old paintbrush then wipe away some with a paper towel

or just use a paper towel with a v tiny, thinly spread bit of paint

Hopefully this helps atleast some!! If you need more detailed shots of my helmet for better reference just lemme know, I just dont feel like going to grab her rn for a photo shoot lmao

Good luck w/ your helmet!! n be sure to post it lots when you're done!!

It'll be sick as hell to see how your interpretation turns out!

just be careful bout wearing it too long

start seeing things you're not supposed to

knowing things you're not supposed to

[luke-o-lophus]

A Ship of Theseus

Summary: Half a year after Ammit, the Moon Boys have moved in with Layla again. One day, there's a special delivery. A blast from the past, in the most mundane way imaginable.

A/N: A character study of an adult survivor of childhood abuse. What is means for memories, belongings, and justice

------------------------------------------------------------------

It's another of those days.

On most days recently, stuff around the house is just...stuff. Then every once in a while, they seem to stare back at him. Try to provoke him into a conversation, introspection, memories.

Until recently, there wasn't a lot of belongings Marc had held on to. When he'd left the house, he could take only as much as he could fit in two bags. And he definitely wasn't aiming to include keepsakes. In a way, that had been easier: living in a space that looked absolutely different. It was easier to pretend the child in his memories wasn't really him, or at best was just a version of him. It's been fifteen years since.

When Marc moved back in with Layla, half a year past the Ammit situation, things had become completely different. Steven was in the picture now, and he came with his massive stack of books and an aquarium Marc found unnecessarily huge for two fish. "It's bigger than my army room", Marc had grumbled to Layla one evening as he helped her carry her stuff into their new apartment.

Between her and Steven, it's easy to lose yourself in the warmth of home. At least that's what Marc had hoped to do. Until Elias called again. As he does. When Marc refused to speak to him, Steven suddenly found himself on call with a father he had no memory of having. But Elias called to talk business. He was selling some old furniture from the house; too much stuff for one person he said. Layla listened to it all with rapt attention as her husband curled up on her lap. It was the memories that were hanging too heavy on Elias, that much was obvious. But she wouldn't tell Marc that, she wouldn't set him on another path of feeling guilt for his choice of cutting contacts. Marc had already done enough, and Elias not nearly so.

Two months later, Packers and Movers delivered a mountain of packages from his once 'home'. Marc eyed the pile with obvious distress, second guessing his choice of accepting the unused furniture just sitting around the house. It'd saved them good bucks they could now use towards a proper honeymoon in the Maldives.

The biggest piece of furniture was a heavy desk, now dismantled into pieces and neatly packed. It had been a gift from his grandfather when he turned five. The man liked to spoil his grandkids. In the years since, the table became his sanctuary. He sketched and played on it, and hid under it when needed. The table had been his constant, his only witness. The only piece of wood in that house he found claim to.

But seeing it now, in this form, sent a chill down his spine. The power tools were ready, it'd take just hours to put it all together. Piece by piece, construct back the silent observer of all those childhood experiences: the ones he remembered, and the ones forever lost to memory. He'd have to bring them back, by his own hands.

Layla was only a little surprised when she came home that evening. Normally Marc hated having things lying around, leading to endless complaints of Steven's untidiness. But she'd guessed the table would be, quite literally, a lot to unpack.

"You don't have to", she told him over a cup of tea. "We can sell it, or put it in storage somewhere. Anything." Marc sighed deeply, shaking his head. "It's mine. But I...", he didn't really want it around. It wasn't comforting. His home with his wife and his alter was his safe haven.

But it's also sacred. Some planks of wood simply nailed together; the weight of which only his tiny young shoulders knew. In one teasing example of the ship of Theseus, Steven told him. If you take it apart piece by piece, and build it back together, is it the same anymore?

Marc doesn't know. He leaves the philosophical shit to him and Layla. But he does know what it makes him feel, unlike either of them. It's only him, and the voice inside of him, flaring up from all those scared memories of a bruised kid hidden beneath the wide tabletop. Teary eyes demanding justice...from himself if not from anyone else.

It's been almost thirty years, and Marc still doesn't know what justice looks like for them. How is he supposed to make the correct decision? From the opposite wall, the propped up packages seem to follow every movement...observing, judging, waiting.

"I was thinking...", Layla chimes in breaking his train of thought. "We should head to Maldives in October. Weather should clear up by then...and it won't be too hot." Marc purses his lips in thought, considering the idea, glancing between the cardboard and Layla's jade black eyes.

"That's two months, huh? Yeah...should be enough time to plan", he shrugs. "Tell Steven, he'll be thrilled." "We can finish setting up the flat when we're back", she starts washing the cups. Marc stares at her back, as she's seemingly lost in her world. Another deep sigh, his eyes closed, memories of the desk, memories of this kitchen countertop, Layla sitting on it...the day they made S'mores together. "Yeah...", he smiles, walking up to her and putting the cups away. "I'll....put these in the storeroom till then?"

"Yeah sure, we can deal with them once we're back." she flashes him a blinding grin. "So, honeymoon, huh?"

Marc chuckles, and wraps her in his warmest hug.

[covington-shenanigans]

so! sometimes I do woodworking. I work with hand tools and no power tools (except for Cordless Drill My Beloved). I do this because, to wit:

I don't have room for power tools, as I actually want to park in my half of my garage

I don't want to set up a whole dust collection system even if I did have room

I hate the fucking noise

I hate the fucking dust (see point 3)

I am deeply clumsy and don't want to lop off a finger, which I absolutely would do if allowed to get anywhere near a table saw

I'm a pretentious broad

this post is about a kitchen cupboard I just finished building from construction-grade pine I got at my local Homo Depot.

we keep a kosher kitchen in my house, which is great! but also it sucks because we don't have enough cabinet space just like. in general. because despite this house being in the shtetl (affectionate) it somehow is poorly laid out and lacks sufficient cabinet space for our Jewish Ways. so I started working on a cupboard a couple of months ago that would allow us to actually get some of our lesser-used-but-still-vital cooking dishes out of the Ikea cabinet thing that is allegedly "the baking cabinet" but in actuality is the "baking, plus the overflow of cooking utensils we don't have room for elsewhere" cabinet.

this cupboard plan is from Rex Krueger (web site, yootoobs), whose YT channel has been a big help to me in dialing back my Hobby Hipster Snob tendencies that always end up costing me a lot of fucking money that I didn't need to spend. his original plan (on his web site, it's like 5 bucks I think) has this cupboard at roughly 2 feet high by 4 feet wide by a foot deep. I wanted to build this specifically to put under the edge of my kitchen island, so I scaled up and added an extra shelf, measuring specifically to fit a couple of my larger kitchen appliances. mine ended up around 34" high by 54" wide by just over 13" deep.

scaling up necessitated a couple of changes, most notably making double doors on each side instead of a single door. the original plan calls for one door on each side, but these doors would have been wayyyy too big and would have probably ended up sagging. also hitting me in the face when I went to get the fuckin dutch oven out of the thing because I am, as noted, clumsy (see point 5, above).

I ended up making the doors out of 3/4" plywood instead of gluing up boards to make panels because the idea of doing that much gluing up with bullshit big box store pine made me want to fling myself and the cupboard out a window. to prevent defenestration I used the plywood. it's better this way.

I also made my own molding, as per Rex's video. he suggests you come up with your own profiles and whatnot, but I was Tired and went with his instead. I don't own molding planes and I don't currently plan to buy any, but he shows you how to make some basic molding profiles using a rabbet plane and a regular hand plane, both of which I own, so I used those. it was fun! I like using the rabbet plane, even if it is a Stanley 78 that clogs after two passes. it's an American tradition to use a Stanley 78 and swear creatively at the inevitable clogs. your grandpa probably did it too. it's fine.

it took a while to get the doors correctly fitted to the cabinet openings and vice versa, because no matter what anyone says, inevitably your case will be just a little bit out of square, especially if you're me and have been doing woodworking for roughly a year on nights and weekends. frankly I was relieved the case was square enough to slap on the plywood back and have it line up enough to glue/nail it down. once I had the face frame on, the molding nailed down and the doors figured out it was paint time!

I used milk paint from milkpaint.com - this is an "early American" style cupboard and milk paint seemed like it would work well, plus it's what Rex uses in the video and I don't see any reason to make decisions about this kind of thing when the plan guy has already made them for me. so milk paint it is. I did two coats.

milk paint dries very matte - it is extremely flat, does not reflect anything at all, and furthermore is quite fragile without something over the top to protect it. to topcoat it I used a couple of coats of shellac (the stuff in the can from the hardware store, I don't have time to be a shellac snob). once that was dry I put a coat of paste wax over the top and buffed it to a sheen with an old cloth diaper. (thank you to my dead, hippie wife for having that just lying around the house. love you, babe! <3)

once I was done with painting the case and the doors, I moved the goddamn thing into the actual house, both to prevent it from getting dusty and to be able to park my car in the garage now that it's winter so I wouldn't have to scrape snow off my windshield.

it may or may not have taken me a month after that to get the doors attached and the handles on. don't worry about it.

it wouldn't have taken so long except that apparently I, in my infinite genius and because I am extremely handsome, mixed up the doors and painted them upside down, consequently causing me to install them upside down. I think that's what happened, anyway. either way, it meant the damn doors didn't fit, so I spent a productive, if stultifying, afternoon chiseling and planing and scraping the door panels, shelves, and case to get the fucking doors to hang and fit correctly. this also meant I had to re-paint and re-shellac in various places, which was annoying, made more so by the existence of my cats.

(I also installed magnetic latches so the doors would stay shut. modern technology is wonderful. and by "modern technology" I mean "$2 off-brand latch thingies from the hardware store".)

however! I triumphed!

the goddamn cupboard is finished! and in my kitchen! and the damn doors close! mostly! and there's stuff in it and out of my baking cabinet! and I didn't cut off a finger! hooray!

[sodakickparty]

Hi. I've got a weightlifting question for you. I've started to hit the limit on my grip strength on my deadlift. Do you have a recommendation regarding gloves, wraps, belts, etc...? Thanks

YES!

So the most obvious thing you can do if you want to keep grip training is buy grip trainers:

The good ones (imo) are the ones you buy individually, but they do add up. So if money is an option you can also train with an alternating grip IE one hand gripping from the other direction.

What this does is basically "feed the bar" into your hands both ways. When your grip is one directional, the bar wants to roll out of your fingers via gravity. The reversed hand essentially cradles it in a sort of middle. HOWEVER if you do this approach it's highly advisable you switch hands mid set to strengthen both hands one at a time

The third option is surprisingly cheap if you don't want to go that route at all. Wrist straps:

Incredibly cheap and incredibly powerful. Just find ones that look trustworthy and are preferably in a color you like. I got purple ones I think 20 bucks. Maybe 30 if I'm being generous. These go around your wrist and wrap around the bar in the direction opposite to your hands and, similar to the reverse grip, will feed it into your hand.

They are honestly game changers and possibly the most important piece of equipment in my bag aside from my belt. I don't recommend doing this at least until you get a good feel for it, but I demo'd them to another lifter and got the bar and two plates off the ground with just two fingers on each hand.

And as for belts. You have two options basically. Leather and Lever.

Technically these don't have any place in a convo about grip strength but you asked about belts so here we go. Lever belts are way way easier to strap in but cost way more. I want to upgrade eventually but they sit pretty around 100 for one that's well made.

Leather belts are thick and sturdy as all get out. No frills. All you need. If you go to a gym there's a very good chance they have one or two hanging somewhere. but they're also typically average build size, so depending on how big you are you might have to spring for a bigger one like I did when I got mine.

Velcro ones exist too but depending on your size and the size of the lift they're not as trusty. They have a place, but imho, not on big lifts.

Belts are great for pressing up against with your gut and basically turning your body into a pillar of solid air and meat. Like a fleshy tire!

There are people who say these tools are cheating. To which I say: Eddie Guerrero cheated and he beat Brock Lesnar. Do what feels right.

I like to start light on my deadlifts and work my way up to the heavier smaller sets. So I typically go strapless, add weight, alternating grip, add weight, and once alternating doesn't cut the mustard I bust out the straps and usually my belt.

Hope this helps!

[elstevo]

TvVIster: The Revenge

I recently watched a new summer blockbuster movie and its prequel.

The truck plunges headlong into the cornfield. Its heavy frame, reinforced with armor and anchors, makes short work of the stalks. Despite the powerful suspension, the truck bucks over the rough ground.

"I can't see!" yells the driver, his pouty lips curling into a grin. "Where is it?"

The scarlet Cupid's bow of the blonde beside him draws razor-tight. Her coiffure bounces as the truck jostles. She touches a hand to her temple and barely squints.

"There." She points off to the left.

The blue-black clouds overhead swirl from horizon to horizon, just as they did on that day years before. Just as they do in her dreams.

She closes her eyes and reaches out with the psychic fingers of her mind. Her pointing arm stays fixed as a compass-point.

"Can't believe we used to need radar for this," the driver mutters as he tries to keep the vehicle on course.

In an instant, the corn stalks part, and the truck leaps onto a country highway. There's no traffic but the debris cast about by the hostile wind.

Across the next field, clouds churn. A funnel reaches slowly down to the earth, and swirling dirt rises up to meet it.

"God damn," says the driver, "that twister's gotta be two miles across!"

The passenger keeps her eyes closed. She doesn't want to see, can't afford to see. Her eyelids clench tighter. Maybe the driver will read it as effort instead of cowardice.

"We need to get closer," says the driver, and the pitch of the engine climbs.

The storm looms larger in her mind. It bellows closer in her ears. In her nightmares, she struggles to open her eyes; now she fights to keep them shut.

She can't help it. She looks.

The vortex approaching the highway ahead has to be an MF-7—has to be! The scale rates a 5 on the damage it does, how many millions of dollars. Sevens are measured in trauma, how many man-hours of therapy.

She's only seen one 7 before. The 7. The one that rewrote the science books when it leveled Hell's Heart, Kansas. The one always tied to her photo in the articles.

She saw it tiptoe down the street, sucking the neighbors from their homes, sucking them up high into the funnel before letting them down as gently as a breeze, like a shopper selecting grapefruit. She saw it suck up her father–right out of the basement–only it didn't set him back down. It disappeared with him into the black storm it came from.

Two years later, it came back for her mother and her kid brother.

Three years after that, it took her husband. The same storm, the same MF-7, all the numbers said so.

Now back again.

"We got company," says the driver. His grin widens.

Three SUVs in matching silver paint jobs whoosh by. They all sport the same swirling blue corporate logo on the doors.

"Hello Pavel," says the driver, and he waves as the convoy passes. No one responds through the tinted windows.

As the SUVs near the tornado, they spread out wide as if to surround the beast. Lightning flashes in the funnel.

Three bright green combines come hurling out of the storm. They each strike one of Pavel's branded cars and explode in spectacular fashion. The flames and thick smoke seem to feed the twister.

"Good-bye Pavel," says the driver.

The psychic leans into the back seat and grabs a long white object like a bulbous spear. It has crude fins cut from tin cans duct-taped to it.

"How does it work?" she'd asked when he first revealed it. She'd been out of the game too long, haunted, hadn't kept up with advances.

"Never mind Dorothy probes, never mind absorbing moisture," he'd said. "The AHAB records all of the information present in the tornado–all of it–and records it perfectly, beyond Heisenberg. If all the info's in the AHAB, it can't be in the atmosphere. Bye-bye, Twisty."

"A storm in a bottle."

"Something like that."

She grips the tool in one hand and a lever by her seat in the other. The driver gives her a look and a gentle nod.

When she pulls the lever, her seat springs out from the side of the truck. Wind and debris whip about her like souls in Limbo. She can smell the storm.

The funnel bends her way as if taking a closer look. Then it raises up tall and begins to bob; she swears she can hear it chuckle.

She undoes her harness to stand up in the chair. The driver yells something, but the chaos swallows his words. She cocks her arm back as far as it goes. She closes her eyes and reaches out for the 7 with every talon in her mind.

For Hell's Heart, she thinks.

When she looks again, the AHAB is gone from her hand. It flies true toward the funnel, and the dark clouds engulf it.

A beat.

Blue scan lines move within the funnel, making a grid up and down and all the way around. The tornado seems to lose all mass, like a graphic on a computer screen. Then, pixel by pixel, it vanishes.

The crackling AHAB and all the tumbling detritus clatter to the ground.

The driver brings the truck to a sliding halt. He leaps from the cab and comes around to the passenger side. The psychic embraces him under blue skies and songbirds. They kiss deeply, and somewhere an audience applauds. She cannot remember her father's face.

Happily ever after, the credits roll.

[dinosaurcharcuterie]

(We're gonna ignore that I warped this upside down. Or that I managed only one decent knot.)

I kinda made a horizontal Oseberg style tablet weaving loom? For like... 12 bucks?

Yes, the backstrap method is a thing, yes, the chairs were working, of course I drool over the idea of a beautiful inkle loom, but also I have chronic pain that inhibits how long I can be in one position and how much/often I can lift, and our apartment has limited space.

Plenty of places online suggested building a ratcheting box loom or clamp loom, which is probably for a good reason, but, again, space. Also tools are expensive. And tend to put me out of commission for a few days. The Oseberg style has the upside of not limiting the size your warp can be, as a box or inkle loom does, and can, theoretically, be turned into a clamp style loom if I so choose. Weight wise, it's about two kilos. I can clamp it to a table if I need to, but I can equally take it with me if I travel, or would want to go a-weaving at a beach or park or in the woods.

It's a 30x60 cabinet door from Ikea's "oops" corner, which is cheaper than the mdf cutting counter at my local hardware store, plus a set of handles that are at least as wide on the inside as anything I've found evidence of being physically possible to weave. Mine are the Kalerum ones. They came with screws. I forgot to splurge the extra buck on little felt feet, so now I need to think about where I put this down because the screw grooves are kinda sharp.

You flip over your board/door to its least attractive side and measure out how far in you want them to be. I went with 3 cm from edge to screw hole. The tricky bit was spacing the holes right. If you're using Ikea hardware, you'll need a 4mm drill bit (but not a powerful drill; I used an electric screwdriver that begrudgingly exists with a drill bit holder), and the handles will be really fussy about being more than a mm off. So I used a 5mm drill bit. They still screwed on firmly, and I'll throw some washers on the back at some point.

Threw on a six tablet warp because that's as much yarn as I had flying around the living room last night and I need to own a belt I'm not too emotionally invested in in about six weeks.

Now all that's left to do is to learn how to tie knots. And also go to that seminar about how to read tablet weaving patterns and set up a warp with a person there to witness where I go wrong.

[lunarsilkscreen]

Currency

So, where does currency come from?

It comes from the government. In order to get currency, you need to make a deal to get currency from the government.

Through taxes, currency returns to the govenrment.

On the topic of interest rates, investopedia says: "The Federal Reserve doesn't set interest rates for mortgages and other loans, but its actions influence the interest rates that retail banks charge. When the Federal Reserve raises benchmark interest rates, retail banks raise the interest rates they offer customers as well."

The fed does have tools to control inflation other than the gov's tax law. But I gotta read more on those.

What this means is that the only people that can be rich, and have lasting wealth are those that have long-term government contracts. I'm not talking about government contractors that are paid the lowest bid, and cycle out like any interesting mechanic in Magic the Gathering.

The military, the banks, utilities, government services

This is why capitalists lobby to *privatize* what should be public utility. Because it's harder to get money any other way. And often why privatization has a good chance to increase the price exponentially, while inversely decreasing the cost.

And why you pay hundreds of dollars a month for services like power and water and digital library, that your tax dollars are *already paying for*.

The promise of prosperity has stagnated to utilities, in order to reduce the progress of quality of life for many people because of how currency is distributed.

Think about it; if nobody is willing to part with their money to you, how're you going to get any currency at all? You need to ask people who have money, whether begging, or getting a job and selling your free time and body to earn it.

So if you need to get money, but you have an expensive set of skills that nobody wants to pay for, expecting instead to pay highschool students for similar quality work (while simultaneously complaining about having to train highschool students mind you)

Think about how certain things have gotten more expensive, not just due to inflation, but in percentage of your earned dollar?

Companies need to charge more, because they themselves can't afford to pay their own bills to support their infrastructure. Which causes them to lose customers who cannot afford it (while still maintaining a utility style monopoly on the service.)

I could talk about the class divide and how it's widening, but that's a flattening of what's actually happening. Yes companies are making record profits, but there's so much more happening underneath all that.

Since currency inherently means that it must return to the government or cause intentional inflation (taxes) it means that no wealth is lasting. At all.

So what does generational wealth ensure? Either the removal of the need to work for a lender, or the ability to pursue what you feel like doing. Which gives you the ability to actually start a company (or multiple companies) with low risk. Since you can't run out of food if you have a guaranteed paycheck.

This is how any wealth can't be created under the current restrictions imposed by the government. I could say *wah capitalism* but if I don't *give up the buck* then capitalists think I'm a hypocrite. Even though the existence of a capital/currency system isn't the definition of capitalism.

[cricutdesignspace12]

What is a Cricut Machine, and What Can it Do?

My cricut.com/setup machines are some of the most powerful tools in my craft toolkit. I use them all the time to make a wide variety of crafts, including custom t-shirts, greeting cards, stickers, and so much more. In this article, I’ll share all sorts of information about the family of cricut design space cutting machines and what they can do. I’ll explain what they are, how they work, and tell you exactly what supplies you’ll need to get started.

You may also be wondering which of the three Cricut models is the best choice for your needs. I recommend the design.cricut.com/setup Explore to most beginners – but the Cricut Maker and the Cricut Joy are fantastic machines too! Keep reading for a comparison of the three Cricut machines so you can confidently choose the best Cricut model for you!

What is a Cricut Machine?

A cricut.com/setup is an electronic cutting machine that can cut all sorts of designs from materials like paper, vinyl, card stock, and iron-on transfers. Some cricut design space machines can even cut leather and wood. You can use the Cricut to cut just about anything you would typically cut with scissors or an X-acto knife. That said, a design.cricut.com/setup can cut with much more precision and speed than would ever be achievable by hand.

Best Cutting Machines

Machines like the cricut.com/setup are sometimes called die-cutter machines or craft plotters. Other brands of cutting machines include the Silhouette Cameo and the Brother ScanNCut.

There are currently three types of Cricut machines on the market: The Cricut Explore, the Cricut Maker, and the Cricut Joy.

The design.cricut.com/setup Explore is the mid-level option and the best-selling machine. The cricut design space Maker is one step up from the Explore and can cut a wider variety of materials with more types of tools. The Joy is a smaller model that’s portable, easy to set up, and simple to use.

How Cricut Machines Work

You can think of a cricut design space cutting machine like a household printer. Except instead of printing your design onto a sheet of paper, a Cricut machine uses a small, movable blade to cut the design out of a sheet of paper (or other material.) First, you create a design in Cricut’s design software or app. Then, you send the design to the Cricut cutting machine via Bluetooth or USB. The Cricut machine receives the design and cuts it out using a small, precise blade.

What is the best Cricut for a beginner?

The best Cricut machine for the beginner on a budget is the Cricut Explore 3. The Cricut Explore 3 is cricut design space most popular machine, and for a good reason! It cuts over 100 materials: cardstock, vinyl, iron-on, and specialty materials like glitter paper, cork, and bonded fabric. It’s not the fastest or quietest cutting machine, but it does a lot and is very beginner-friendly.

Which Cricut should you get?

The best Cricut for you depends on the kinds of projects you like to do. Think about what types of materials you’ll want to cut before choosing which Cricut machine to buy.

When to choose the Cricut Explore: The Cricut Explore is the best-selling Cricut machine and offers you great “bang for your buck.” The Cricut Explore is my all-around top choice for design.cricut.com/setup newbies on a budget.  It’s a relatively fast and powerful machine that cuts up to a maximum width of 12″. And like I’ve mentioned before, it cuts more than 100 popular craft materials, including paper, vinyl, and iron-on.

So, if you prefer paper and vinyl crafts (and don’t need to cut a lot of fabric and wood), your best choice is the Cricut Explore.

When to choose the Cricut Maker: The Cricut Maker can do everything the Cricut Explore can do, and so much more. I recommend upgrading to the Maker if you want the versatility to cut heavy-duty materials like wood and leather and delicate materials like crepe paper and fabric for sewing projects.

Speaking of using the Cricut sewing projects, the Cricut Maker has a special rotary cutter tool perfect for cutting fabric pattern pieces, quilt appliques, and other fabric projects.

When to choose the Cricut Joy: The Cricut Joy is Cricut’s newest cutting machine. The Cricut Joy is perfect if you like to make quick, small-scale projects, like labels and cards

[spunsugarmusings]

Legoland Starter Sentences

Sentence starters taken from the 2006 play "Legoland" by Jacob Richmond. Change pronouns as necessary, TW for drug and sexual references, cursing, and similar themes. Some have been edited for clarity

"Welcome to my presentation! This is where I tell you, after two hundred hours of community service, how to never turn out like me."

"Well, that should cover a lot of ground, considering that's like every high school movie or play I've seen in like, ten seconds flat."

"However, I did sell and traffic drugs in two countries and horribly maim this man. This man that I truly loved."

"That's a joke! We make those, you can laugh, or not."

"I have strong apprehension to the scientific claims of my disorder."

"In real life, I don't exist."

"Okay, that's enough about Jeffery Dahmer! Let me whisk you away to happier times!"

"Afenschwanz in German means monkey dingle."

"I would've been a goner if it weren't for the collective need I sensed in all of you for my survival."

"I was sent to the charred black bowels of an everlasting Hell!"

"I didn't know you weren't supposed to actually know anything in school!"

"Well, who's ever heard of a misogynist lesbian."

"The only things you beepin' hussies like to read are your pregnancy tests!"

"What made these the great thinkers they are today? Answer; syphilis."

"Sold my meds to teenagers and college kids, ten bucks a throw!"

"You can't say the F word unless you're pretending to be poor!"

"Only the Lord knoweth what is truly cool."

"What's the point? We all die, and all love dissolves!"

"We haven't met before, but I feel we've met a hundred times in the republic of my dreams."

"He's angry, he's white, and he just doesn't give a fuck!"

"I just gangsta rapped about copulating with a power tool."

"You wouldn't know irony if it crawled up your ass to start a soup kitchen!"

"Even though I feel bad for them, I can't relate to them at all."

"I got a Fry Guy in a firetruck. It amused me."

"TICKLE ME ELMO'S REIGN OF NATIONAL TERROR HAS NOW BEGUN!"

"I got a junior membership to the NRA."

"I've never been to a bathhouse before, but this certainly feels like one."

"There is the Lover Lane, or the Super Hate Highway. I fear, because the world's been so heartless to you, you've gone down the latter."

"I've traveled all that way. For cinnamon."

"You see, that's what I thought you said."

"The faith you create as an attraction must provide satisfaction! AND! OR! HELL!"

"For now, I do not merely want to hurt you (name), I want to TASTE YOU."

"THE BURNING SUN HAS PASSED OVER THE PASSIVE MOON!"

"I can vomit fire."

"I! CAN! VOMIT! FIIIIIRE!!!"

“In a world where we are ultimately alone, and die in our own arms, love is the closest you can come to another person, because it’s the closest you come to being another person. So be very careful what you love.”

"Pro wrestling is real; it's the world that's set up."

[yinses]

substitute

| you told yourself that you would do anything for satoru |

gojo satoru x reader

rating: 18+

a/n: i have an obsession i know. i’m working on it

it was to a soft tickling at the inside of your thighs that welcomed you into the next day. a soft sigh broke through your yawn as you shifted and twisted against the desires tugging at your veins. 

somewhere in your mind, you registered that it was much too early. 

but of course your body disagreed tenfold. 

“ngh…” an equally tired chuckle vibrates against you and you jumped at the touch of a thumb brushing against your outer lips. 

“the was a cute sound,” the voice purred. your hips lifted once more in reaction before they were assisted into submission by the firm weight of a forearm along your pelvis. 

the sounds of your slick sliding against his tongue were as equally loud as it was lewd. there was no art to the madness, just a series of flicks and heavy suction. 

your fingers clenched at the sheets, wrinkling the integrity as your chest heaved with every moan. in terms of wake up calls, the impending shrill of your alarm easily took last place. 

“you are always such a sight to wake up to. thought i’d return the favor.” 

and return it he did. 

the insertion of a finger freed up the opportunity for his voice to waft around the room again. the rhythm was as languid as his lazy drawl as he bent a joint and raked the nail against your inner walls. 

“i also might need a favor.”

the pinch of your brow came before the comprehension of his words. gojo was always a talker- a stronger contender as a firm charmer that managed to weave his way through society. as his position as ‘the chosen one’, his power spoke volumes. 

with you- he leaned on alternative methods. 

“fuck-toru… you bastard.”

you choked over the inclusion of a second finger, barely swallowing your words as you struggled to rock into them. 

“that’s not very nice of you. to think i woke up so early to treat you this morning.

your boyfriend took the opportunity to curl both fingers this time, smirking when you all but managed to successful buck him off as you keened under his ministrations. 

“it’s nothing big.” turquoise eyes, tinged with lust, met yours as he rose his head. the blanket fell off his shoulders, revealing more pale skin. “i just need a bit of a substitute today.” 

substitute? as in substitute teacher? he had to be joking. 

unlike gojo, after graduation you had more than willingly left behind the stuffy atmosphere of education. as a sorcerer, you never did stop learning. the always evolving curses not letting you hang too far off your game. 

but to return to the classroom to put those young students through everything you hated in your youth? 

no orgasm was worth that.

you disguised your grimace under the pretense of displeasure as he withdrew his hand all together. he tsked at your impatience, using the same hand as a crude form of lube as he fisted his growing cock. 

“it will be easy. these classes are even smaller than ours were.”

 it was difficult to voice a complaint when he was doing just the opposite and sliding into you. your back arched as he filled you to the hilt with little difficulty. 

he experimented with a shallow thrust, a grin pulling at his lips when you responded positively. the pace he set was slower than either of you were use to on a regular basis, but it fit the mood of morning sex. 

his forehead touched yours as he drew back for another long thrust. “shit-squeezing me so early. what a good girl.”

you whimpered when his hips met yours with more force than the last. “think of how excited they’ll be to have a new face. such a sexy one at that.” 

your body slid along the mattress each time he buried himself within you. you didn’t want to admit that he was getting to you. not even his all seeing gaze needed to retell the obvious. his plan was flawless and in short you were too much of a simp for the man.

so you just accepted the early morning distraction, taking direct pleasure in the way it unraveled the tangle of sleep.

you clenched your inner muscles helpfully and your boyfriend groaned in appreciation as he chased both of your releases with new vigor. the twitching and shakiness began with you as the pace picked up. your climax tumbled out of you with a sharp gasp as your boyfriend filled the space with a grunt. 

the two of you took a minute to regain your before he eventually pulled out and you pointedly ignored the stickiness as you relaxed your legs to give him the room to pull away. he didnt stray too far, white locks tickling your nose as he leaned in close again.

“i have more in store for you tonight as a thank you.”

with a huff, you pressed your palm against his cheek before his lips could chase yours. 

“fine, fine. i’ll babysit your class. you better be on some super important mission.”

gojo made a pleased sound, somewhere stuck between a hum and a warm rumble as he nuzzled the side of your neck and pressed his lips there instead. 

“super important. thanks babe.”

                                          you don’t know why you agreed to this. 

leaning back against the desk, you returned the silent gesture as the three first-years scrutinized your presence. aside from megumi, the other two were new faces for you. but your boyfriend’s knack for storytelling painted the picture in the absence of words. 

nobara was obvious. the sole girl of the unit. 

poor girl. 

she seemed to share your sentiment of wanting to be anywhere else but here. 

“so you’re dating sensei?”

you brought your arms closer to your chest as your shoulders rose with the action. 

was that … judgement?

“i’m so sorry.”

it was the sincerity that scared you the most. 

“oh wow, wow, wow. sensei’s really got it all. “

sukuna’s vessel was impossible to miss as any seasoned sorcerer. despite the boy’s positive demeanor, he reeked of the malevolent residue. yet in a way he made it work, there was nothing really about him that didn’t come off as approachable. 

he had something to gain gojo’s infatuation. there was no doubt in your mind that he would use this boy to help him dismantle the systematic hierarchy of the sitting elders. 

you just had to wonder. 

was the kid his main tool or the curse?

“i can’t believe you actually agreed to this.”

ah, megumi. 

the boy liked to express his love for distance, but the years swallowed up so much of it as you watched him grow. your boyfriend was a lot of things but you couldn’t deny the influence he had on the young sorcerer. 

the boy who seemed to disdain the attention knew it too. 

now that everyone had their turn to speak, you supposed it was your turn. 

“he was very convincing,” you offered lowly before picking up the volume. “let’s not pretend you’re actually going to learn anything from me. im just a sit in until satoru gets back from his mission.”

megumi’s scoff shouldn’t have come as a surprise. gojo’s name was rarely spoken without it’s accompaniment. 

“what makes you think he’s not off sightseeing?”

because killing gojo was impossible but you would happily tire yourself exploring your options. 

your smile was tight as you gestured to the door,” lets kick the morning off with some practice matches. the second years are always eager.”

settled comfortably against the bleachers observing as your temporary students got their asses handed to them, you came to the conclusion that being a teacher couldn’t be too bad. perhaps in the future you might be more willing to offer your services with out your boyfriend’s extra persuasion.

speaking of gojo, you wondered how his mission was going. you never actually questioned his agenda. 

you didn’t expect to wait long as the dial tone started up. outside of battle and life or death situations, gojo rarely ignored your calls. he knew in the thick of it you could protect yourself, but he preferred to keep himself available to your needs. 

the sounds of mixed commotion greeted you before his voice did. 

“toru … it sounds busy. where are you?”

gojo’s answering laugh should have been the first warning. to some it may have come off as eased but you could hear the way he forced it in to deflect. 

“sweetheart, how are classes going? i hope they’re not giving you too much trouble.”

trouble seemed to be the opposite of what he was dealing with. there were a lot of people holding their own conversations in the background, all of them too casual to be in danger. in fact, there were too many in general to place him on a battlefield. 

what exactly were you substituting for?

“order #217 for… gogo-san?”

the loud cluck of your tongue against the roof of your mouth was suddenly powerful enough to drown out the clamor. 

gojo satoru prided himself on standing resilient to all threats. it was how he maintained his position as the strongest. he was sought out for his efficiency and ability to overcome all adversaries. 

even against the most fearsome.

“honey, do i ever have a treat for you! today was a single-day special at my favorite bakery. you should have seen the lines. it's a good thing i got here so early!”

there were a lot of things you would do for satoru gojo.

and even more that you would do to him when you got home.

[samwisethewitch]

10 Magic Herbs You Can Find at the Grocery Store

When you’re first getting started with witchcraft or another magical practice, it can be easy to get caught up in all of the material stuff involved. Witchy hashtags on social media are filled with pictures of huge sparkly crystals, gorgeous handmade ritual tools, and beautifully elaborate altars. Many spells in books or online call for a long list of herbs, some of which are expensive or hard to come by. For baby witches, it’s easy to feel like you can never be a “real” witch unless you have money for these expensive tools and toys.

This is not true. As we’ve talked about in previous chapters of this series, you don’t need any tools or material components to cast a spell — however, harnessing the energy of plants, crystals, and imagery can be a helpful way to add energy to your work. This doesn’t mean you need to spend a lot of money. In fact, many of the most powerful and useful magical tools can be found on the spice aisle in your local supermarket, or even at the dollar store.

For example:

Salt. Salt is a witch’s best friend. It can be used for cleansing, banishing, protection, grounding, or to neutralize energy. Surrounding something with a circle of salt will protect it [Note: do NOT make salt circles outside, as salt will kill plant life!], and washing something with salt water will cleanse its energy. I often include salt in any spell that I feel needs an extra layer of protection.

Sugar. Just as salt banishes unwanted energy, sugar attracts the things you want into your life. Sugar can be used for any and all attraction spells, whether you’re looking to attract love, money, success, or something else. It can also be used to “sweeten” a situation, or make it more favorable.

Cinnamon. There’s pretty much no positive spell that doesn’t benefit from cinnamon. Cinnamon has associations with healing, love, success, and material wealth, but is also strongly associated with protection. I love burning cinnamon as incense — it fills the whole room with warm, cozy energy.

Cayenne. Cayenne is often used for banishing or binding spells, but a lesser known use is for getting things moving. Cayenne is a very fiery plant, so any spell dealing with passion, motivation, or drive can benefit from its inclusion. Cayenne can be used to “light a fire” under someone to motivate them to action. However, cayenne is a more harsh energy, so I often pair it with lavender or another soothing herb.

Coffee. I most often use coffee for grounding or to anchor things to the physical world. For example, I might include it in a prosperity spell to make sure the results manifest in my everyday life. Coffee is also energizing and brings mental clarity, and can enhance psychic abilities. Brewed coffee is also used in some traditions as an offering for spirits.

Bay leaves (Bay Laurel). Bay leaves are one of the most popular spell components because of their association with granting wishes. You’ve probably heard of the practice of writing a wish on a bay leaf and burning it to manifest your desire. I often include bay leaves in manifestation magic for this reason. Bay leaves can also be used for purification, cleansing, and exorcism.

Ginger. Ginger adds power to any spell it is included in. Ginger tea or gingery food can also give you a personal energy boost. I add ginger to any spell that needs some extra “oomph.” It is also associated with success.

Basil. Basil is very commonly used in money spells. Carrying a basil leaf on your person is believed to attract wealth. It also has associations with protection.

Peppermint. Peppermint is another herb that can add power to virtually any spell. It can bring healing and purification, can remove obstacles and free up stuck energy, and can enhance psychic abilities. Peppermint is a common ingredient in dream pillows. You can find peppermint tea at virtually any grocery store, and many stores also carry the essential oil.

Lavender. Lavender is my favorite herb for bringing peace to a situation. It’s very good for healing magic and for soothing difficult emotions. Lavender is also associated with love, and I especially like to use it in spells for self love. Most stores carry lavender essential oil, and you can also find herbal teas that include it as an ingredient.

With the above herbs at your side, you’ll have everything you need to cast virtually any type of spell. Honestly, even if you just have salt, sugar, and maybe some white candles, you can create powerful spells for dozens of different intentions, from protection to self love to getting a job. Remember, what matters isn’t so much what you have — it’s your intention.

These are also edible, so they can be incorporated into magical recipes for different intentions. In fact, most of the ingredients you cook with every day have magical associations and can do double duty as powerful additions to your spells. For more information about the magical uses of common household herbs and spices, I highly recommend the book A Green Witch’s Cupboard by Deborah J. Martin, which is where most of the info for this post came from.

Other useful magical items that you can pick up at the grocery store include:

Olive oil. Olive oil can be used as an all-purpose anointing oil for candles, ritual tools, or your body. It can also be used to dilute essential oil, or as a base for custom magical oils.

Tealight candles. These small candles are perfect for candle spells. White tealights can be used for any intention.

House plants. Many common houseplants have magical associations. For example, aloe brings protection and healing. You can also grow some witchy herbs, like peppermint or rosemary, indoors.

Epsom salt. Epsom salt is a great base for bath spells. You can add essential oils and herbs to make custom bath salts — just be sure to research oils and herbs ahead of time, as some can cause skin irritation. [Note: Epsom salt is not actually salt, and cannot be substituted for salt in spells.]

Notebooks. Writing things down is an important part of witchcraft. Keeping a record of your spells, divination, and magical experiences makes it easier to keep track of everything.

Again, I want to stress that you don’t need a specific set of tools to be a witch. In fact, you can do highly effective magic without ever working with herbs at all. But if you want to gather some items to add power to your spells or help you feel more witchy (after all, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to set the mood!), you can get everything you need for a few bucks at the local supermarket or dollar store. Remember, our ancestors worked magic with what they had — not with expensive crystal collections or exotic herbs.